Without Joey Chestnut, who is the favorite to win the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest?
Without Joey Chestnut, who is the favorite to win the men's competition?
Hot dogs. Gambling. America.
The Fourth of July is quickly approaching, which means it’s time to watch some folks eat as many hot dogs as they can in Coney Island, New York.
Mark your calendars for the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Thursday. Coverage of the women’s contest starts at 10:45 a.m. EST that day on ESPN, with the men’s competition following at noon.
And as you watch these professional eaters stuff meat and buns in their mouths, you can bet on them – in states where gambling is legal, of course. DraftKings has odds for the men’s and women’s competitions.
For the women, Miki Sudo is still the overwhelming favorite to win at -1600. And rightly so, as she’s won nine of the last 10 women’s contests at Nathan’s, including the last two. She ate 39.5 hot dogs last year.
The men’s contest looks a little different this year, largely because 16-time champion Joey Chestnut isn’t in it. Chestnut – who ate 62 hot dogs last year after a thunderstorm delay – bowed out from the competition after a kerfuffle arose between him, Nathan’s and Major League Eating over him accepting a sponsorship from Impossible Foods. Instead, he’s set to take on rival Takeru Kobayashi in a competition on Netflix on Labor Day.
So, with no Chestnut, DraftKings has tabbed Geoffrey Esper as the favorite at +100, with James Webb close behind at +185.
Here’s the rest of the betting options, per DraftKings:
- Nick Wehry +550
- Patrick Bertoletti +650
- Field +2000
- Gideon Oji +5000
- Darrien Thomas +5000
- Derek Hendrickson +7500
- Max Stanford +7500
- George Chiger +7500
According to his Major League Eating bio, Esper recently at 23.75 pounds of strawberry shortcake in eight minutes, setting a record – for whatever that’s worth. Esper placed second in last year’s contest with 49 hot dogs, 13 behind Chestnut.
Oji, a former college basketball player, was sixth last year with 36 hot dogs downed.